Typist&#39;s copying gauge



April 26, 1938. s, FORD 2,115,331

TYPIST Sl COPYING GAUGE Filed May 25, 1936 ...m .nlml llllllllllllllllllllIllllllll Patented Apr. 26, 1938 i UNITED' STATE-s TYPISTS COPYING GAUGE ySamuel Ford, Denver, Colo.

Application May 25,

4 claims.l

'I'his invention relates to a copy holder for typists and has for its principal object the provision of a neat, eiiicient compact foldable device which will hold the material to 'be copied in an easily visible position and which will successively indicate the line to be copied as the copying progresses.

Another object of the invention is to provide an efcient mechanism which can be rapidly operl ated by finger pressure to move the indicating gauge accurately along the work and to provide a gauge which will indicate line `lengths and line positions on the sheet lbeing copied so that an exact duplicate may be made.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is cle-` signed for simplicity, economy, and eiiiciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the improved copy holder, as it would appear ready for use.

Fig.` 2 is a rear view thereof with the supporting arms or legs in the folded position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1.

FigJl is an enlarged side elevation of the line spacer.

The invention consists of a backing board or plate I il, turned outwardly along its lower edge to form a projecting shelf I I. On the back of the plate I0, adjacent each vertical edge thereof, a toothed rack bar I2 is positioned. The upper extremities of the rack bars I2 support hinge arms I3 and the latter support a paper clamp bar I4 across the upper front of the plate I0. The clamp bar I4 is constantly pressed against the plate by means of tension springs I5 acting upon lever extremities on the hinge arms I 3.

The lower extremities o f the rack bars I2 are formed into bracket members I6, to each of which a supporting arm I'I is hinged. The outer extremities of the arms are provided with rubber cushions I 9*.

At their bottoms, the rack bars I2 terminate in legs provided with suitable rubber cushions 2|. The weight of the device rests upon the legs 2U and it is supported in an inclined vertical position by the arms I 'I which project rearwardly 55 at an upward angle.

1936, Serial No. 31,626

The brackets I6 also provide a support for hingedly supporting a pair of side arms 22 which extend forwardly of the shelf II and terminate in a line-spacing bar 23. The line-spacing bar extends across the plate I0 immediately in front of the shelf I I. A coil spring 24 supports the linespacing bar in the raised position until depressed with the finger. Two stop bosses 25 and 26 are formed on each of the bracket members I6 to limit the upward and downward arc of movement -10 of the line-spacing bar. A rod 27 is connected with one of the side arms 22 and extends upwardly therefrom alongside of, and parallel to, the rack bar I2.

A line gauge plate 28 extends entirely across the 15 front of the plate I 0, and terminates at its extremities in terminal brackets 29 which overlap the edges of the plate I G to maintain the gauge 28 in place thereon. A pinion shaft 3U extends across the back of the plate I6 between the brackets 29 and carries two pinions 3| xedly secured thereon. The pinions 3| engage the teeth of the rack bars I2 and, since they are xed to the shaft 30 constantly hold the gauge 28 Vin a hori- Zontal positio-n. Y 25 A lever 32 is rotatably vmounted on one ex- Y tremity of the pinion shaft 30. 'Ihe lever 32 has an opening for the passage of the rod 2l. This opening is of a size to allow the rod 2l to slide freely through the lever 32 whenthelatter is 30 positioned at right angles to the rod but when the lever is moved out of right angular position, the side of the opening grips the rod 2l. A leaf spring 33 is secured to the lever and acts against the gauge plate 28 to constantly urge the for- Y. ward extremity of the lever 32 downwardly so that it will grip the rod 21 when the latter moves downwardly.

When the rod 2l is moved upwardly, it lifts the lever 32 to the right angle position and allows o the rod to slide freely therethrough without raising the gauge plate 28. A finger bracket 34 pro- `jects from the gauge plate immediately alcoveV the lever 32 so that the two may be grasped by the fingers to lift the lever to the released position 45 to allow the entire gauge plate to be adjusted or raised to the top of the rack bars.

In use, the typist suspends the sheet to be copied from the paper clamp I4 between the gauge 28 and the plate I0. She then releases the 50 gauge plate by lifting the lever 32 and moves it to a position below the first line to be copied. When this line has been copied, she strikes the spacer bar 23 with the lingers. This causes the rod 21 to pull downwardly on the lever 32 and 55 move the gauge downwardly a line space so that the next line to be copied will be visible. This operation iscontinued to the bottom of the sheet.

The gauge plate 28 is preferably formed with a sightopening 35 below which is a letter kspacing scale 36. It is preferred to view the line to be copied through this opening immediately above the scale 36 Vsince this concentrates the vision Von the line being copied. The upper edge of the gauge 28 however can be used for'this purpose if desired, as itis provided with a second'letter spacing scale 31. The .spacing scales are indexed 'similarly to the scales of an ordinary'typewriter so that the operator can read the line positions on these scales and set her tabular stops to correspond therewith.

A brake spring 38 is compressed between one of the brackets 29 and the adjacent pinion 3| toV act as a brake against the latter to support the gauge plate in its set position.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to Ybe understood that the same may be varied, within 'the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention. Having thus described the invention, what is Y claimed and desired to be secured by Letters YtheendsA of the latterypinion gears secured on 'r said shaft; a rack member'in mesh with each pinion gear and secured vertically on rear face of` said boardga'depressible spacing ybar extending forwardlyrof said board; resilient means for holding the spacingbar in elevated position; a

' gauge actuating rodV vertically reciprocable byY said VspacingV bar; and means for connecting the line gauge member with the rod when the spacing bar is depressedand for releasing the roclA when the spacing bar isV released. Y

2. A copy holder vfor typists comprising: a back- V ing board; means for supporting said board in a substantially vertical position; means for clamping a sheet of paper to the face of said board;

a line gauge member extending across the forward face of said board in spaced relation thereto; means for slidably mounting said gauge member atV the vertical edges of said board; a shaft extending across the rear face of said board between and connected to the extremities ofy said gauge member; pinion gears secured on said shaft; and a rack member in mesh with each pinion gear and secured vertically on the rearV face of said board; a depressible spacing bar extending forwardly of said board; a gauge actuactuating mechanism comprising a lever, ro-

tatably mounted-YonV and extending from said shaft, said lever having an opening for the passage of said gauge actuating rod, said opening engaging said rod closely so that when said lever is moved at an angle to said rod, the wall of the opening will engage and grip the rod, and resilient means for biasing the lever downwardly.

3. A copy holder for typists, comprising in combination, aY backing board. having two parallel edges, a line gauge extending across the face thereof, means for guiding the gauge comprising a slidable connection between the ends thereof and the parallel edges of the board, a shaft extending across the board at the back thereof,

Vating rod operable by said spacing bar; Va gauge bearings carried'by the ends of the line gauge,

theshaft being journalled in the bearings, racks secured to the rear of the board, one adjacent each of the parallel edges, pinions non-'rotatably carried by the shaft for conjoint engagement'` with the racks, and means comprisinga gauge actuating mechanism for periodically effecting a predeterminedamount of rotary movement of the shaft and a corresponding movement. of the line gauge. Y j

4. A copy Yholder for typists, comprising in com- I bination,. a .backing board havingY two paralleledges, a rack attachedrto the back thereof Yadjacent each edge, a line guide extending across the face of the board, the ends of the guide having alined bearings whose axes are to the rear of the racks, a shaft rotatably mounted in the bearings, pinions non-rotatab1y connected with the shaft for engagement and'conjoint co,- operation with the racks. a gauge actuating mech-Y Y anism operatively associated ywithV the shaft, the

mechanism comprising a Ylever having an open- Y ing, a rod extending through the opening, means for reciprocating the rod; and resilient means associated with the lever for biasing it in a direction to move the line gauge downwardly..

SAMUEL FORD. 

